John Matisonn: DA finally gets the GNU deal it wanted

Key topics:DA gains influence in GNU through “sufficient consensus” mechanism.Deadlocks now resolved by Political Leaders Forum, not president.Monthly CHM meetings aim to implement GNU program and build consensus..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By John Matisonn.A full year after the GNU clearing house mechanism was set up to resolve conflicts between coalition parties an agreement has finally been reached which the DA is confident will give it a say in government for the first time. The key to DA confidence in the belated agreement is that it gives the DA and ANC leverage over each other through the “sufficient consensus” mechanism which was supposed to be in place from the start of the GNU.That’s because it is now agreed that deadlocks will go to the party leaders’ forum for a decision – not the clearing house mechanism or the president– where the 60% threshold means that both the DA and ANC have enough votes to veto each other’s plans.Since the 60% threshold can only be reached with a combination of votes of the two biggest parties, this finally should produce the outcome envisioned in the original statement of intent signed between the two parties at the start of negotiations for the GNU in July last year. .Read more:.John Matisonn: DA mayors in all metros? – latest poll.This will not bring big changes immediately. However, next time that the ANC wishes to change existing policy or take a new decision it will require DA support. At that point DA leaders believe they will be able to leverage their support for a policy change to obtain agreement to implement parts of the DA’s agenda.The remaining question is whether the parties will stick to the agreement. Deputy President Paul Mashatile announced the agreement last week, a full year after CHM first established, and 16 months after the GNU statement of intent agreeing to sufficient consensus was signed.Under this new agreement the CHM will have monthly meetings, and unresolved issues will be referred to the Political Leaders Forum, not the President for a binding decision.The agreement does not apply to provincial or local government matters, since these have their own unique coalition arrangements. But this might still cause tension since the provincial and national government has some oversight rights over municipal councils and mayors. DA spokesperson Willie Aucamp said the DA “is happy that, after thorough debate, there is no longer any threat” that the Statement of Intent “can be side-lined.“The original draft document had the potential that the role of the ‘political leaders’ forum’, where the ‘sufficient consensus’ clause does apply, could be side-lined. The terms of reference now prevent that from happening,” he said.“The clearing house is therefore not a decision-making body. The issue of ‘sufficient consensus’ within the clearing house is therefore no longer a concern as the clearing house’s role cannot be abused,” he added.He said that the clearing house didn’t hold enough meetings this year, but that monthly meetings now planned would help all parties find common ground and lead to the implementation of a programme of action for the GNU.Although there are eight smaller parties in the GNU, none has enough votes to get to the 60% threshold without the DA and ANC.

John Matisonn: DA finally gets the GNU deal it wanted

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